1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to memory devices based on phase change based memory material, including chalcogenide based materials and other materials, and in particular methods for reducing recrystallization (set) time for such devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Phase change based memory materials, like chalcogenide based materials and similar materials, can be caused to change phase between an amorphous and a crystalline state by application of electrical current at levels suitable for implementation in integrated circuits. The generally amorphous state is characterized by higher electrical resistivity than the generally crystalline state, which can be readily sensed to indicate data. These properties have generated interest in using phase change material to form nonvolatile memory circuits, which can be read and written with random access.
The change from the amorphous to the crystalline, referred to as set herein, is generally a lower current operation in which current heats the phase change material above a transition temperature to cause a transition of an active region from the amorphous to the crystalline phase. The change from crystalline to amorphous, referred to as reset herein, is generally a higher current operation, which includes a short high current density pulse to melt or breakdown the crystalline structure, after which the phase change material cools quickly, quenching the phase change process and allowing at least a portion of the active region to stabilize in the amorphous phase.
Research has progressed to provide memory devices that operate with low reset current by adjusting a doping concentration in phase change material, and by providing structures with very small dimensions. One problem with very small dimension phase change devices involves endurance. Specifically, memory cells made using phase change materials can fail as the composition of the phase change material slowly changes with time because of the instability of the amorphous versus crystalline state. For example, a memory cell in which the active region has been reset to a generally amorphous state may over time develop a distribution of crystalline regions in the active region. If these crystalline regions connect to form a low resistance path through the active region, when the memory cell is read a lower resistance state will be detected and result in a data error. See, Gleixner, “Phase Change Memory Reliability”, tutorial. 22nd NVSMW, 2007.
The crystallization times (tx) and crystallization temperatures (Tx) of phase change materials are two of the most important properties. They strongly influence data rate, data retention and archival lifetime and thus the usefulness of a phase change material for technological applications such as re-writable optical recording and phase-change random access memory (PCRAM). In optical storage media, the phase change recording layer is generally sandwiched between two insulating layers; a metal layer is also part of the multilayer structure for realizing high cooling rates during writing. Therefore, a basic storage media is typically comprised of a four-layer stack (IPIM stack, insulator—phase change material—insulator—metal). Different attempts to reduce the crystallization time (which limits the data rate) for a typical phase-change material Ge—Sb—Te have been reported. They include the modification of Ge—Sb—Te by nitrogen/oxygen doping, film thickness optimization (suggesting an optimum thickness of 30 nm for shortest erasure times), and inserting a crystallization-promoting interface layer between one insulator layer and the recording layer. Materials that have been studied as an interface layer to modify the crystallization speed for phase-change recording media include SiC, Si3N4, GeN, Ta2O5, SiO2 and HfO2. (See: [1] G. F. Zhou, Mater. Sci. Engin. A304-306, 73 (2001). [2] G. F. Zhou, B. A. J. Jacobs, and W. V. Es-Spiekman, Mater. Sci. Engin. A226-228, 1069 (1997). [3] G. F. Zhou, and B. A. J. Jacobs, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 38, 1625 (1999). [4] N. Ohshima, J. Appl. Phys. 79(11), 8357 (1996). [5] T. Nakai, T. Tsukamoto, S. Ashida, K. Yusu, N. Yoshida, K. Umezawa, N. Ohmachi, N. Morishita, N. Nakamura and K. Ichihara, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 43(7B), 4987 (2004).)